One of my first laptops was a delightfully small and thin Toshiba laptop, and while they often don’t get a lot of love in the consumer press, I’ve always had a spot of fondness in my part for the brand. Their newest notebooks continue a great tradition by adopting Intel Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7 processors for their new Tecra A11 and Qosmio X500 workstations.

The Tecra A11 features a 15.6-inch display and a choice of either Core i3 or Core i5 processors, while the Qosmio X500 workstation features an 18.4 inch display and a Core i7 processor.

Obviously, the Tecra A11 is the more entry-level offering, and offers up to 320GB of storage, 3GB of RAM, a DVD burner, a Mini DisplayPort connector, and — interestingly for a 15-incher — a separate numeric keypad. Prices start around $879.

On the other hand, the Qosmio X500 gets up to 8GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M graphics and a 500GB hard drive, with connectivity including HDMI, S/PDIF, an eSATA/USB combo port and even Blu-Ray, all for the rather steep price of $1,549.